In 1926 John Verret joined the Society of Saint Edmund (SSE) at Swanton, Vermont, graduating from Saint Anne’s Academy in 1930. He entered Saint Michael’s College in Colchester, Vermont, and subsequently studied at Saint Michaels, earning his degree in 1935. After completing his theology studies at Swanton, Vermont, he was ordained a Catholic Priest in 1939, at the Burlington Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception and he said his first High Mass at St Joseph church in June. He taught high school, and then was a professor at Saint Michaels until 1940, when he left to do graduate work at Catholic University, Washington, D. C. He enlisted in the Army in 1942 and was commissioned as a chaplain, and was promoted to captain the following year, serving at Fort Benning where he completed jump school and earned his wings. He was deployed to the European Theater of Operations with the 507th Parachute Infantry Regiment, and was killed in action on January 8, 1945, in an action that earned him a posthumous award on the Silver Star. On July 15, 1949, his body was returned to Burlington, Vermont for burial.